As the calendar crawled closer to the 2025 NFL Draft, the lack of a consensus became clear.
There’s little doubt that cornerback Benjamin Morrison and safety Xavier Watts will be the first two former Notre Dame football players selected in this year’s draft, which begins Thursday at 8 p.m. EDT in Green Bay, Wisc. But there’s no consensus on which one of those defensive backs learns of their NFL destination first.
Inside ND Sports examined eight big boards from various outlets who cover the NFL Draft. All eight had Morrison and Watts ranked somewhere in the range of No. 32 overall to No. 80 overall. Morrison was ranked higher than Watts on four individual big boards. Watts was ranked higher than Morrison on the other four big boards. Even their average rankings were very similar: Morrison at 56.5 and Watts at 58.6.
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Though Morrison and Watts were both incredibly productive at Notre Dame, their stories are very different. Morrison became a starter during his freshman season and earned multiple Freshman All-America honors. He played at a high level as a sophomore, which led to Preseason All-America honors heading into the 2024 season, but a hip injury cut his junior season short. That didn’t stop him from entering the draft before exhausting his college eligibility.
Watts began his Notre Dame career as a wide receiver before he switched over to defense and eventually became a safety. He didn’t start a game until late in his junior season. When he became a full-time starter at safety the past two seasons, Watts intercepted 13 passes in 29 games. He followed up a unanimous All-America season in 2023 with a consensus All-America season in 2024.
Morrison’s injury history, which includes injuries to both hips in high school and college, is limiting his potential to be drafted in the first round. Watts’ lack of elite size or speed will likely lead him to being selected on Friday (7 p.m.) when the second and third rounds are held.
Notre Dame will likely have six players taken throughout the entire draft upon its conclusion Saturday (12 p.m.) with rounds 4-7: Morrison, Watts, quarterback Riley Leonard, tight end Mitchell Evans, linebacker Jack Kiser and defensive tackle Rylie Mills. Three other players are less certain to be drafted but could be late-round picks: defensive end RJ Oben, defensive tackle Howard Cross III and wide receiver Beaux Collins.
Notre Dame should be able to expand its 532-530 lead over USC for all-time selections in the NFL Draft. The Irish had seven players selected last year after combining for five in the 2022 and 2023 drafts.
These are some other Notre Dame storylines to monitor in this year’s draft.
Mitchell Evans and Notre Dame tight end streak
Notre Dame’s argument for Tight End U starts here. The tight end who has started the most games at the position for the Irish in every season since 2004 has eventually become an NFL Draft pick. The streak stretches back to Anthony Fasano, who was selected in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft.
Michael Mayer became the latest to keep the streak alive when the Las Vegas Raiders picked him in the second round of the 2023 draft. Mitchell Evans should be selected near the middle the draft to extend the streak once again. He finished his Notre Dame career with 77 catches for 903 yards and five touchdowns with most of that production coming in 24 games the past two seasons.
Leonard elevates status quo for Notre Dame quarterbacks
Notre Dame hasn’t had a quarterback drafted since Ian Book landed in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft thanks to the New Orleans Saints. Four years prior to that, the Cleveland Browns made DeShone Kizer a second-round pick. Those were the only two quarterbacks drafted after playing for head coach Brian Kelly during his 12-season tenure with the Irish.
Riley Leonard, who played just one season at Notre Dame after transferring from Duke, could become head coach Marcus Freeman’s first quarterback selected after his first three seasons leading the Irish. It took former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly seven seasons into his tenure before Kizer became his first quarterback drafted from the Irish.
Leonard’s athleticism, which allowed him to set the Notre Dame program record for quarterback rushing touchdowns in a season (17), might allow him to stand out in a crowded group of quarterbacks who may be selected in the back half of the draft. Leonard rushed for 906 yards on 184 carries last season in addition to throwing for 2,861 yards and 21 touchdowns with a 66.7% completion rate and eight interceptions.
Kiser keeps Notre Dame linebacker tradition going
Jack Kiser spent a lot of time practicing and playing alongside the two former Notre Dame linebackers who were drafted last season: Marist Liufau by the Dallas Cowboys in the third round and JD Bertrand by the Atlanta Falcons in the fifth round. Kiser should hear his name called this week after setting the Notre Dame record for games played at 70.
Kiser tallied at least 45 tackles in each of the past four seasons for the Irish. He reached a career-best 90 tackles as a 16-game starter last season.
The linebacker position has been one of Notre Dame’s best at producing NFL talent in the last 10 years. Five Irish linebackers have been selected in the previous 10 drafts with Jaylon Smith (2016), Drue Tranquill (2019) and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (2021) preceding Liufau and Bertrand. Three positions are tied at six for the most draft picks from Notre Dame in that span: offensive tackle, tight end and defensive end.
Big board rankings
Here's how former Notre Dame players are ranked by draft analyst who compiled eight different big boards.
CB Benjamin Morrison
Pro Football Focus: No. 32 overall, No. 5 cornerback
NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah: No. 44 overall, No. 6 cornerback
ESPN’s Jordan Reid: No. 49 overall, No. 8 CB
ESPN’s Field Yates: No. 55 overall, No. 7 cornerback
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.: No. 57 overall, No. 8 cornerback
Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice: No. 66 overall, No. 8 cornerback
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler: No. 69 overall, No. 10 cornerback (2nd-3rd round grade)
The Ringer’s Danny Kelly: No. 80 overall, No. 8 cornerback
S Xavier Watts
Avg: 58.625
PFF: No. 36 overall, No. 3 safety
Kiper: No. 52 overall, No. 4 safety
Yates: No. 53 overall, No. 3 safety
Brugler: No. 54 overall, No. 3 safety (2nd round grade)
Reid: No. 56 overall, No. 3 safety
Jeremiah: No. 63 overall, No. 4 safety
Tice: No. 76 overall, No. 3 safety
Kelly: No. 79 overall, No. 4 safety
QB Riley Leonard
Tice: No. 3 quarterback, No. 63 overall
PFF: No. 127 overall, No. 5 quarterback
Kiper: No. 9 quarterback
Brugler: No. 10 quarterback (4th-5th round grade)
Reid: No. 291 overall, No. 12 quarterback
TE Mitchell Evans
Yates: No. 138 overall, No. 7 tight end
Kiper: No. 8 tight end
PFF: No. 166 overall, No. 9 tight end
Brugler: No. 9 tight end (4th round grade)
Reid: No. 187 overall, No. 12 tight end
LB Jack Kiser
Average: 163.75
Kiper: No. 138 overall, No. 9 linebacker
PFF: No. 152 overall, No. 9 linebacker
Yates: No. 176 overall, No. 13 linebacker
Brugler: No. 12 linebacker (4th-5th round grade)
Reid: No. 189 overall, No. 10 linebacker
DT Rylie Mills
Jeremiah: No. 108 overall, No. 14 defensive tackle
Kiper: No. 117 overall, No. 11 defensive tackle
Brugler: No. 23 defensive tackle (4th-5th round grade)
PFF: No. 201 overall, No. 26 interior defensive lineman
Reid: No. 262 overall, No. 38 defensive tackle
DE RJ Oben
PFF: No. 196 overall, No. 30 edge defender
Reid: No. 270 overall, No. 33 edge defender
Kiper: No. 23 outside linebacker
Brugler: No. 38 edge defender
DT Howard Cross III
Reid: No. 247 overall, No. 34 defensive tackle
PFF: No. 315 overall, No. 33 interior defensive lineman
Brugler: No. 34 defensive tackle (7th round grade)
Kiper: No. 35 defensive tackle
WR Beaux Collins
PFF: No. 261 overall, No. 37 wide receiver
Brugler: No. 42 wide receiver
Reid: No. 348 overall, No. 48 wide receiver
Kiper: No. 50 wide receiver
DB Jordan Clark
Kiper: No. 41 cornerback
Brugler: No. 46 cornerback
Brugler: No. 69 WR wide receiver
Brugler: No. 86 wide receiver
DB Rod Heard II
Brugler: No. 88 cornerback
RB Devyn Ford
Brugler: No. 112 RB
DB Max Hurleman
Brugler: No. 115 S
Brugler: No. 148 TE
Sources cited:
Top 80 big board by Nate Tice of Yahoo Sports (updated April 16)
Top 100 big board by Danny Kelly of The Ringer (April 22)
Top 150 big board by Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Media (April 21)
Top 150 big board by Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN (April 22)
Top 200 big board by Field Yates of ESPN (April 17)
Top 350 big board by Jordan Reid of ESPN (April 16)
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